John Fitzgerald’s defeat in 1907 to the ineffectual George Hibbard was seen as an affirmation that his two years in office were so beyond the pale that Boston voters would […]
Honey Fitz v. Storrow: A battle of titans
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Clean energy workers total 80,000, Mass. says
State officials on Tuesday said Massachusetts now has nearly 80,000 clean energy workers, up about 11 percent from a year ago and representing about 2 percent of the state’s workforce. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Globe boosts Barros
Today’s Globe endorses Boston mayoral hopeful John Barros, while scolding former Menino aide Charlotte Golar Richie for running a lackadaisical, identity-laden campaign. That may not be enough to push Barros […]
Posted inPolitics
The face behind the badge
Dan Conley is working the sidelines at the Bromley-Heath basketball courts on a hot Saturday afternoon. The idea behind the annual basketball tournament taking place is to let teens at […]
Posted inEducation
Lawrence test scores improve, sources say
Standardized test scores due out later this week are expected to show that the state takeover of the Lawrence school system is having a positive impact, according to three people […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Peter Beinart’s case for a new New Left
What do Bill de Blasio’s rise, Larry Summers’ exit, and Elizabeth Warren’s rosy future have to do with each other? Everything, according to Peter Beinart, whose 5,700-word essay last week […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Taking new approach to pediatric research
Fifty years ago, a baby born to President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, died after just 39 hours of life. Born just slightly premature at 37 weeks and […]
Posted inPolitics
Irish ascendancy and Honey Fitz
The election of 1909/1910 represented a number of firsts and lasts: the first election where the winner would receive a four-year mayoral term; the first election under a city charter […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Different views on school committee in Lawrence, Boston
The schools in Lawrence were so bad that the state took them over. But the candidates for mayor don’t seem inclined to change one key aspect of the school system’s […]
Posted inEconomy
House, Senate leaders plan to repeal tech tax
The leaders of the House and Senate said on Thursday they plan to repeal the software design tax they approved just months ago and fill the resulting $161 million revenue […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Insensitivity training at Massport
My 9-year-old granddaughter knew that yesterday was the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Her class read it in their history books and discussed it during […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Healthy attitude
In the crowded race for mayor in Boston, where candidates have struggled to distinguish themselves from the pack, Bill Walczak finds himself in an unusual position. He has stood alone […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
No letting up
Go ahead, try to hide behind your sunglasses. Stare down at the sidewalk — no, better, stare right through the concrete on the ground. Walk as quickly as possible. Discover […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
West Springfield rocks casino world
Never underestimate the threat of traffic nightmares to doom an $800 million economic development project. West Springfield voters said no in a Big E way to Hard Rock International’s plan […]
Posted inPolitics
The race for mayor: Past is prologue
The history of any city is a patchwork quilt of events, mismatched pieces that often bear no relation to one another but nevertheless come together to tell a story about […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Service taxes: Where the money is
Bank robbers stick up banks because that’s where all the money is. States feel the pull of service taxes for the same reason. Today, Governing magazine looks at the way […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
Analysis: Mass. tech tax “most burdensome”
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICECasting the state as out of step with the norm, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released an analysis Monday of state approaches to taxing computer and software design […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Breakfast reflux
For something teed up in Friday’s Globe as a “no-holds-barred political slugfest,” the showdown over South Boston’s annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast quickly got downgraded into more of a playground […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care
Bush hit and miss on new tech tax
The new computer and software services tax is stirring strong opposition in the business community – and a large dose of confusion as well. Jonathan Bush, the president of Watertown-based […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker’s one-two punch
Charlie Baker took some heat from Democrats for announcing his run for governor in a video, but the strategy appears to have worked perfectly. The good-guy image Baker cultivated in […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Motor City breakdown
“I’d blow up the place and start all over.” That was the quip from Boston Mayor Tom Menino about Detroit that has caused such a stir. Menino’s comment, which appeared […]
Posted inPolitics
Heavy hitters go to bat for Wolf
State Sen. Dan Wolf has lined up nearly a dozen big guns, including former judges, top prosecutors, and ethics experts, to persuade the Ethics Commission to change the rules to […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The future of newspapers – again
Seems every time a newspaper is sold, the prognosticators and print junkies predict – and hope for – a new way forward. Isn’t that the expectation for Jeff Bezos and […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Solar subsidies raising concerns
The state’s two leading utilities are raising concerns about the high cost of the Patrick administration’s new plan for subsidizing solar power. In comments filed with the state Department of […]